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Diamondrg Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

tall, long, high

when do you use these three words?

1. for people : tall as in "How tall are you? I am 1.72 cm tall etc."

2. for things : long as in "her hair is long. (NOT tall)"

3. ..for what?.. : high as in "Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world."

But I know that "tall" is also used for things which are long and thin, such as a tall building and a tall glass.

But these are a bit mind-boggling.Emotion: thinking can you illuminate me?
  

Top answer

They commonly use "tall" when talking a vertical length of a standing thing and "high" when talking a thing's position above some base surface they have in mind. "Mount Chomolungma is the highest mountain in the world" means "The summit of Mount Chomolungma is the highest land position above the mean sea level". "The high lamp" means "the lamp is on a position high from the place the speaker stands".

— Paco2004

  • They commonly use "tall" when talking a vertical length of a standing thing and "high" when talking a thing's position above some base surface they have in mind.
  • "Mount Chomolungma is the highest mountain in the world" means "The summit of Mount Chomolungma is the highest land position above the mean sea level".
  • "The high lamp" means "the lamp is on a position high from the place the speaker stands".
  • "The tall lamp" means "the lamp is put on a tall pole".
  • paco
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9 Answers
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They commonly use "tall" when talking a vertical length of a standing thing and "high" when talking a thing's position above some base surface they have in mind.

"Mount Chomolungma is the highest mountain in the world" means "The summit of Mount Chomolungma is the highest land position above the mean sea level". "The high lamp" means "the lamp is on a position high from the place the sp
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Hi,

Paco, I think, implied but didn't actually say that 'long' suggests 'horizontally' rather than 'vertically'. I agree.

Best wishes, Clive
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'long' suggests 'horizontally' rather than 'vertically'. I agree.

Right. An example of this is that when a baby is born, the doctor measures how long it is. Once the child can stand up, the doctor measures how tall it is.

A dachshund is usually longer than it is tall.
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Hi Khoff,

Then again, have you heard the song -

I saw Uncle John with Long Tall Sally
he saw Aunt Mary comin' and he ducked back in the alley
Oh, baby, yeah now baby
Woo baby, some fun tonight

Rock on, Clive
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'Long queue' is another example for 'long'.
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"Ultrasounds show my baby is now 2.5 inches long/tall".

Which is more natural, long or tall?

paco

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Hi,

"Ultrasounds show my baby is now 2.5 inches long/tall".
Which is more natural, long or tall? Long. Your baby hasn't stood up yet. Perhaps, as an adult, it will be a basketball player over two metres tall.

Best wishes, Clive

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can you elaborate on these?

- a tall vase? or a long vase? or both.

- a tall building? a long building? a high building?

- a long story

- a long time

- a long way

- a long ship/train/vehicle?
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Hi,

a tall vase? or a long vase? or both. Tall

- a tall building? a long building? a high building? Tall or high if you are speking of height.

- a long story OK. I hesitate to mention the idiomatic 'a tall tale', which means an unlikely story that contains a lot of exaggeratio
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